INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTER ONE 1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Nigeria was confronted with social and economic development issues after its independence in 1960. There was also a need to improve all facets of education in the nation. Vocational and technical education was one of the features intended to help strengthen the country and minimize young unemployment. According to Nnanna (2012), in order to grow Nigeria and address the problem of unemployment, multiple commissions were established to examine the educational and personnel requirements in different sectors of the economy. The Ashby commission titled “Investment in Education” in 1960 and the Cottiers/Caunce report on the growth of technical and commercial education below the professional level between 1961 and 1976 were two examples of such studies.
The Ashby committee report proposed actions to assist provide the groundwork for Nigeria to construct a balanced system of vocational/technical education. He was of the view that technicians were in low supply and that training facilities were insufficient. In a similar vein, the Cottiers/Caunce study expressed disappointment with the lack of a nationwide assessment to determine the type and scope of educational demands from industry for the development and management of the vocational education system. The survey also indicated that, since enterprises do not remain static, such an examination must be ongoing in order for mechanical innovation to be reflected in the vocational education curriculum.
The report’s most significant component was its acknowledgement of the need for Nigeria to develop and expand vocational and technical education. As a result, under Decree No. 24 of 1989, the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) was established to educate young people in vocational education and skill development in order to minimize unemployment (Amoor, 2009). According to the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s National Policy on Education (2004), vocational education is the component of education that leads to the learning of practical and applied skills as well as fundamental scientific knowledge. Vocational and technical education is geared on preparing students for a career in order to prepare them to tackle the problems of the labor market and contribute to national growth. In a similar vein, Okonkwo and Obinali (2012) said that the goal of vocational education and training is to affect the beneficiaries’ essential practical skills, potential, work proclivities, attitudes, and other traits. This is intended to prepare pupils for self-sufficiency via self-employment.
In support of this claim, Odugbesan (1995) observed that vocational education provides recipients with all of the necessary job characteristics, pragmatic skills and abilities, knowledge, and attitude to enable them to live independently after graduation. Vocational education and training are highly valued in most industrialized countries and are seen as a vital investment. This is why, via vocational training, many young people have gained the necessary skills to get work, which will benefit both them and society in the long term. On the contrary, Nigeria’s poor state of vocational education and training began with the educational foundation established by the colonial government, which placed a greater emphasis on training students for white collar jobs while paying little or no attention to vocational education and training. After graduation, vocational education and training encourages students to be self-sufficient.
Unfortunately, despite numerous years of independence, Nigeria continues to practice pre-independence education, which only prepares graduates to seek civil service and other related employment, despite the establishment of specialized institutions such as universities of technology and polytechnics, which has yet to produce the required results to address these issues. There are now 125 technical/vocational centers in Nigeria (www.everyculture.com/-/nigeria.html), which is insufficient given the country’s growing population of 170 million people. These few vocational schools cannot provide enough trained labor to lower Nigeria’s growing unemployment rate. According to Nnanna (2002), the government under several administrations has attempted to enhance educational delivery, especially as it relates to vocational and technical education. This is due to an awareness of the role that vocational education and training can play in the growth of the nation by lowering unemployment and young restlessness in Nigeria.
As a result, the extent to which vocational education and training reduces unemployment in Nigeria serves as the foundation for this research. 1.2 Formulation of the Problem After completing a degree, young people’s lives are significantly impacted by poverty reduction or income production. Inquiries along these lines include: what do Nigerian youngsters anticipate after completing their degree education? Do people genuinely discover their potentials and capacities after completing a degree program? What would we be able to say at that time about the contributions of Nigerian higher educational institutions to the lowering of young unemployment in the country? It is critical to understand the potential of Nigerian higher education in reducing poverty among young people and to propose that Technical and Vocational Education is one of the tools for improving and supporting youth empowerment. 1.3 The Study’s Objectives The primary goal of this research is to look at the effect of vocational education in lowering unemployment in Nigeria.
However, the precise goals are as follows: Understanding the vocational and technical education skill areas that may generate jobs for Nigerian youth To investigate the important aspects of self-reliance in vocational and technical education. Identifying the issues and opportunities in vocational and technical education to ascertain the causes and repercussions of young unemployment 1.4 Research Suggestions The following are the research questions that this project hopes to answer: What are the vocational and technical education skill areas that may give jobs for Nigerian youth? What elements of self-sufficiency are significant in vocational and technical education? What are the challenges and opportunities in vocational and technical education? What causes young unemployment and what are the repercussions of youth unemployment? 1.5
Hypotheses for Research The following assertions are the research hypotheses that will be investigated in this study: There is a strong link between vocational and technical education and job chances. Unemployment has a huge influence on society’s young. 1.6 Importance of the Research Unemployment, as the phrase indicates, has been a huge issue across the nation. Some young people are unaware that vocational and technical education may improve the country’s employment rate as well as their own and society’s well-being. As a result, the goal of this research is to discover how vocational and technical education may aid in solving young unemployment in Nigeria. It aims to analyze how vocational/technical education training and skills may offer the essential platform to foster entrepreneurship and decrease unemployment.
Vocational/technical education is seen to be the key to national growth. How can young be enabled to acquire skills and ideas in order to address the current mismatch between labor demand and the employability of Nigerian youths? This research aims to clarify the idea of vocational and technical education, investigate some of the variables that contribute to unemployment, evaluate government initiatives to reduce unemployment, and estimate the potential influence of vocational and technical education on boosting entrepreneurship. It finishes by suggesting some techniques for sustaining an entrepreneurial culture and lowering young unemployment. This study, on the other hand, will be very beneficial to the youths, as well as the state and federal governments, because it aims to determine the importance of vocational and technical education and how it serves as a source of employment and self-reliance for individuals in society, with a focus on the youths in particular. 1.7
Scope of the Research The research will focus on the role of vocational and technical education to the general improvement of unemployment in society. This research will focus on selected regions in Lagos Mainland Local Government, Lagos State. 1.8 Definitions of Terms The following concepts are defined in the context of this study: – Vocation is a Latin term that meaning “calling” and “invitation” to grasp certain crucial activities. Unemployment: Unemployment denotes a lack of employment or a condition in which individuals are unable to obtain paid job. Youth: A young individual who has not yet achieved maturity; the interval between childhood and adulthood. Skills: The skill and capability gained by conscious systematic and prolonged effort to carry out complicated tasks or job functions involving ideas, objects, and people in a smooth and adaptable manner.
1.1 Introduction to the Research
Nigeria was confronted with social and economic development issues after its independence in 1960. There was also a need to improve all facets of education in the nation. Vocational and technical education was one of the features intended to help strengthen the country and minimize young unemployment. According to Nnanna (2012), in order to grow Nigeria and address the problem of unemployment, multiple commissions were established to examine the educational and personnel requirements in different sectors of the economy. The Ashby commission titled “Investment in Education” in 1960 and the Cottiers/Caunce report on the growth of technical and commercial education below the professional level between 1961 and 1976 were two examples of such studies.
The Ashby committee report proposed actions to assist provide the groundwork for Nigeria to construct a balanced system of vocational/technical education. He was of the view that technicians were in low supply and that training facilities were insufficient. In a similar vein, the Cottiers/Caunce study expressed disappointment with the lack of a nationwide assessment to determine the type and scope of educational demands from industry for the development and management of the vocational education system. The survey also indicated that, since enterprises do not remain static, such an examination must be ongoing in order for mechanical innovation to be reflected in the vocational education curriculum. The report’s most significant component was its acknowledgement of the need for Nigeria to develop and expand vocational and technical education. As a result, under Decree No. 24 of 1989, the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) was established to educate young people in vocational education and skill development in order to minimize unemployment (Amoor, 2009).
According to the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s National Policy on Education (2004), vocational education is the component of education that leads to the learning of practical and applied skills as well as fundamental scientific knowledge. Vocational and technical education is geared on preparing students for a career in order to prepare them to tackle the problems of the labor market and contribute to national growth. In a similar vein, Okonkwo and Obinali (2012) said that the goal of vocational education and training is to affect the beneficiaries’ essential practical skills, potential, work proclivities, attitudes, and other traits. This is intended to prepare pupils for self-sufficiency via self-employment.
In support of this claim, Odugbesan (1995) observed that vocational education provides recipients with all of the necessary job characteristics, pragmatic skills and abilities, knowledge, and attitude to enable them to live independently after graduation. Vocational education and training are highly valued in most industrialized countries and are seen as a vital investment. This is why, via vocational training, many young people have gained the necessary skills to get work, which will benefit both them and society in the long term. On the contrary, Nigeria’s poor state of vocational education and training began with the educational foundation established by the colonial government, which placed a greater emphasis on training students for white collar jobs while paying little or no attention to vocational education and training.
After graduation, vocational education and training encourages students to be self-sufficient. Unfortunately, despite numerous years of independence, Nigeria continues to practice pre-independence education, which only prepares graduates to seek civil service and other related employment, despite the establishment of specialized institutions such as universities of technology and polytechnics, which has yet to produce the required results to address these issues.
There are now 125 technical/vocational centers in Nigeria (www.everyculture.com/-/nigeria.html), which is insufficient given the country’s growing population of 170 million people. These few vocational schools cannot provide enough trained labor to lower Nigeria’s growing unemployment rate. According to Nnanna (2002), the government under several administrations has attempted to enhance educational delivery, especially as it relates to vocational and technical education. This is due to an awareness of the role that vocational education and training can play in the growth of the nation by lowering unemployment and young restlessness in Nigeria. As a result, the extent to which vocational education and training reduces unemployment in Nigeria serves as the foundation for this research.
1.2 Formulation of the Problem
After completing a degree, young people’s lives are significantly impacted by poverty reduction or income production. Inquiries along these lines include: what do Nigerian youngsters anticipate after completing their degree education? Do people genuinely discover their potentials and capacities after completing a degree program? What would we be able to say at that time about the contributions of Nigerian higher educational institutions to the lowering of young unemployment in the country? It is critical to understand the potential of Nigerian higher education in reducing poverty among young people and to propose that Technical and Vocational Education is one of the tools for improving and supporting youth empowerment.
1.3 The Study’s Objectives The primary goal of this research is to look at the effect of vocational education in lowering unemployment in Nigeria. However, the precise goals are as follows:
1.4 Research Suggestions
The following are the research questions that this project hopes to answer:
1.5 Hypotheses for Research
The following assertions are the research hypotheses that will be investigated in this study:
1.6 Importance of the Research
Unemployment, as the phrase indicates, has been a huge issue across the nation. Some young people are unaware that vocational and technical education may improve the country’s employment rate as well as their own and society’s well-being. As a result, the goal of this research is to discover how vocational and technical education may aid in solving young unemployment in Nigeria. It aims to analyze how vocational/technical education training and skills may offer the essential platform to foster entrepreneurship and decrease unemployment. Vocational/technical education is seen to be the key to national growth. How can young be enabled to acquire skills and ideas in order to address the current mismatch between labor demand and the employability of Nigerian youths? This research aims to clarify the idea of vocational and technical education, investigate some of the variables that contribute to unemployment, evaluate government initiatives to reduce unemployment, and estimate the potential influence of vocational and technical education on boosting entrepreneurship. It finishes by suggesting some techniques for sustaining an entrepreneurial culture and lowering young unemployment.
This study, on the other hand, will be very beneficial to the youths, as well as the state and federal governments, because it aims to determine the importance of vocational and technical education and how it serves as a source of employment and self-reliance for individuals in society, with a focus on the youths in particular.
1.7 Scope of the Research
The research will focus on the role of vocational and technical education to the general improvement of unemployment in society. This research will focus on selected regions in Lagos Mainland Local Government, Lagos State.
1.8 Definitions of Terms
The following concepts are defined in the context of this study:
Vocation is a Latin term that meaning “calling” and “invitation” to grasp certain crucial activities.
Unemployment: Unemployment denotes a lack of employment or a condition in which individuals are unable to obtain paid job.
Youth: A young individual who has not yet achieved maturity; the interval between childhood and adulthood.
Skills: The skill and capability gained by conscious systematic and prolonged effort to carry out complicated tasks or job functions involving ideas, objects, and people in a smooth and adaptable manner.
